Is it Over?
by The wolf in the high castle
Summary: Specklefall has completely fallen for Peaknose, and has determined himself to be with her, no matter who gets in his way. All is fair in love and war, and he may find himself in both. Another challenge story for Petalclan.


Specklefall jumped out of bed. Ever since he was named an apprentice, his world lit up. Part of the reason was a kit-like excitement towards growth, sure, but there was a more basic element at play for the young Specklepaw: an older apprentice at the time, Peakpaw. Her pure, bright white fur contrasted with a dazzling, tabby pattern; he simply couldn't avoid staring at her through entire training exercises! Whenever they were pitted against each other, Specklepaw couldn't bring himself to act, and was completely decimated by her. The mentors could tell something fishy was going on, and made sure that Specklepaw had no role in Peakpaw's assessment. When it was his own turn, 3 moons later, Peaknose was selected to monitor his assessment. They planned for her presence to bring out his glaring weakness and show he couldn't perform around her; but she merely sparked his determination even further. He was named Specklefall in celebration of success.

Now, as a few weeks had passed, Specklefall was psyched. He had waited 3 moons to be able to properly work with Peaknose again, if only Starkwing would stop giving them such vastly separate roles. However, today was going to be a great opportunity for him: Specklefall only had to report for the dusk patrol, which meant he was technically free until long after sun-high. Peaknose, however, was on a sunrise hunting expedition with Fintail, a worthless tom which she shared her apprenticeship with. Specklefall was so disgusted with the distance enforced between him and Peaknose; Starkwing was a beaver building a dam in their river of destiny!

Specklefall tried to secretly follow them out, but Starkwing warned him to stay back. "You have the dusk patrol. If you go out now, you'll be too tired for the patrol. Stay inside."

Specklefall quickly reassured Starkwing that he would certainly fulfill his duty when the time came, and that he was only going out to nap in the sunlight. Specklefall stepped out before he could be ordered to come back, and specifically ignored Starkwing when he did just that. Starkwing decided not to chase after him, since the insubordinate's feelings wasn't worth his time.

Specklefall stalked after Peaknose and Fintail, following their trail of fresh kill. He caught up with them rather quickly, as he left not too long after they did. He was more impressed that they already caught something in such a short span of time! It was probably Peaknose; she never fails to astound with her performance. Much better than Fintail, in every way.

When they caught trace of more prey, the party's actions took Specklefall completely off guard: they directly cooperated to drive any fresh kill straight into the claws of the other! Their teamwork greatly upset Specklefall. Their cleanly coordinated and executed hunting style suggested that the two of them had practiced for entire seasons! Meanwhile, Specklefall was all alone, hunting by himself, with nowhere near their level of success in hunts. Specklefall was starting to feel the bitter cuts in his soul. He could be her hunting partner! He would be so much better for her than Fintail! He'd only need the chance to prove it.

Specklefall stalked the pair one last time. He'd show her just how good he could be! As the two were setting up their positions to snatch this one shrew, Specklefall swooped in and snagged it himself. He flared out his coat, and sat tall in the ray of sunlight. He was anxious, and out of control. She was about to praise his skills! She had to! He just caught a shrew for her! Surely, she had to notice how well they could hunt together!

"Oh. Specklefall? What are you doing here? You should be back at camp." Her mew was apprehensive, and not nearly as confident or energetic as he had expected. It was as if Peaknose was more offended by his presence than she was proud of his success or accomplishment.

"I came to help you! Most hunting parties have at least three cats anyway." He had a rational explanation, though he'd rather simply replace Fintail as her hunting partner. Fintail was just as upset as Peaknose, but was holding himself in the shadows so that she could sort out Specklefall. "It was for the clan."

Peaknose shook her head. She knew it wouldn't go so smoothly. "You have a dusk patrol; you should be resting right now." Peaknose expected him to leave, and go back to camp, but Specklefall refused to do anything of the sort that would separate them once again.

"I'm here now. I can still do the dusk patrol then, there's enough time." He knew it wouldn't matter to split her up with Fintail if he wasn't already in the party, and did his best to convince them to let him stay.

Fintail was growing impatient. "We were sort of hoping to do this ourselves. We kind of have a thing going between us." He padded up to stand beside Peaknose, and really send a clear message. He was done with dodging the issue. Shockingly enough, Peaknose made no efforts to avoid him! Surely she wasn't okay with this? She must've been corrupted, brainwashed, by Fintail's evil intentions!

"Oh, alright. I'll head on back to camp. You two seem busy enough as is." Specklefall found the truth, and it was a hard one. He had to save Peaknose from her demise with Fintail! There was only one way: Fintail had to go.

The young couple kept on hunting. They set up their similar trick, surrounding the ferret on both sides. However, this time, Specklefall was prepared to intervene, but not by catching it first. Peaknose would definitely be impressed this time! Instead, Specklefall crept up on Fintail, who wasn't suspecting a thing. He pounced on the senior warrior, going straight for the throat. Fintail tried to pull away quickly, and yelped in despair as he was pinned to the ground. He sank his teeth in, as Fintail squirmed helplessly.

The squeal not only alerted the ferret that something fishy was going on, but brought Peaknose into such an alert that she didn't care about the hunt at all. She stormed over the startled ferret, letting it get away free. When Peaknose found them, Specklefall was standing over the stilled Fintail. He was staring back at her, gleaming with pride.

Peaknose went into a frenzy, tackling Specklefall and beating him around the bush. The traitor soon fell to the ground, unable to mount an effective defense against the furry fury that now confronted him. "Wait!" He begged, pleading for his life.

He was successful in staying her claws for a brief moment, for her to hiss "give me one good reason not to kill you right now."

Naturally, Specklefall's response was the only one he had: the truth. "I did it because I love you. Please... don't leave me." His mew was soft, weak, and pitiful. Mentally wailing at his oppressor, Specklefall froze in the dirt, imprisoned by his physical form.

Furious, Peaknose drew a wicked slash across his face, completely shredding his nose. Specklefall could do nothing besides squeal in burning agony. "From now on, whenever you drink from the surface of the water, you will remember what a worthless traitor that you are. I will be going back to camp. If I see you on clan territory again, I will flay you myself. And don't go thinking you'll be safe with the others! When I say clan territory, I mean it!" With that, she left to get the rest of the clan.

Specklefall scrambled to get to his paws. Unfortunately, she didn't stay with him, but at least she gave him something to remember her by.


End file.
